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The Tarnished Order
The '''Tarnished Order '''was a powerful group of adventurers that resided in Blackfang. They were renowned for their incredible fighting prowess, and they saved Blackfang from many enormous threats, such as Chomaticis, the Starlight Talon, Arix, and the Prophet of Ixjil. After defeating the Prophet, the power released by the shattered staff of the greater deity granted them each immense power, fueling their ascension to godhood. History Formation The Tarnished Order formed when a group of bounty hunters came together for a single mission, to clear out a dungeon infested with monsters. Prince Levistus and Princess Diamond (known by false names Leviathan and Deslynn) came from Darkwood, fleeing the forces of the mighty demigod Arix. Bruno Dragonsbane and Rohr Thunderbeard came from the north, escaping a settlement of oppressive hill dwarves. Grath and Shay were supposedly on a mission from Sachshire, though in truth they were escaping the city in secret. Jack traveled from the Floating Forests of Hanava to refine his craft. Aversin traveled from the Temple of Amthora in the north, after seeing a prophetic message from the goddess. Falco and Gorn had recently fled from an ill-fated expedition to the Underdark, seeking work after the rest of their group had been killed. Through most of the mission, they cooperated for the large monetary reward at the end of the dungeon, but when they encountered the dungeon's master, the evil transmuter Evilmage Jr, as well as the legendary four-armed orc Tobias, they formed a near-unbreakable bond as they fought for their lives within the bowels of the dungeon. Afterwards, they joined together permanently, abandoning their occupation as bounty hunters and swearing to protect the world of Blackfang. Few placed their trust in the group, but they quickly made a name for themselves, carving out their place as the greatest heroes of Blackfang's history over the course of four years. The Black Pit After their original meeting, the members of the soon-to-be-created Order ventured into the dungeon known as the Black Pit. There, their adventures consisted of solving several ancient puzzles and riddles as well as surviving the dangerous traps and monsters that were encountered there. Eventually, they were captured by Evilmage Jr, who used them as test subjects for forbidden spells meant to regrow limbs. However, his apprentice Shalina frees the members of the group and together, along with the legendary good-aligned orc Tobias, they fought and killed Evilmage, though Tobias died in the process due to Evilamage's Blight spell. From there, the Order fled the dungeon with all of Evilmage's valuable possessions, before officially forming into an adventuring group. The Golden Lord The Tarnished Order, after completing several menial tasks to gain recognition in the area, chased a gang of Wererats into the Smokewoods, where they encountered a Monastery of the Four Elements. The head monk there requested the aid of the group in finding stolen pieces of their venerated statues, depicting the four gods of the elements. The Order accepted the mission, chasing down the stolen objects until a final confrontation with the man who had ordered them stolen, the duke Christopher Edven, who used the pieces of the magical statues to transform into a much more powerful form, declaring himself the Golden Lord. He attempted to seize control of the region, but was stopped by the Order, who eventually managed to kill him and retrieve the pieces of the statues. The Antithesis The Tarnished Order was contacted by the League of Dragons, who requested their assistance with investigating the actions of several powerful chromatic dragons, with the assistance of Copper Ashgrove. While investigating, the Order uncovered the dragons were working together in order to all become a more powerful, immortal form of Dracolich. They hatched a plan to stop the dragons, killing Frostfang, a member of the group. A second plan, designed to eliminate the second of the three dragons, failed with the plot's discovery. The Order was forced to do battle with two adult dragons at once, resulting in Jack's death at the hands of Uldrio. The Order caved in part of Uldrio's lair, burying the dragon, where he was unable to free himself and suffocated. Rilhaus fled back to his lair, where he initiated the transformation into a Dracolich. However, without the assistance of the other dragons, the ritual failed partway through, and Rilhaus' Dracolich form was weakened significantly. Eventually, the Order succeeded in killing Rilhaus permanently, and gained great favor within the League of Dragons. The Dungeon of Runes The Tarnished Order investigated a mysterious cavern in the far west, venturing through its dangerous interior and eventually finding the remains of an ancient Drow city. Here, a portal to the Abyss had been opened by a mad Drow warlock, who the Order killed. Eventually, a powerful fiend known as Avaritia climbed through the portal, escaping the Order and attacking several nearby settlements. They succeeded in closing the portal and slaying Avaritia, though the adventure deeply affected Shay's psyche after she was killed and revived twice. The Search for Bruno The Tarnished Order, after fellow party member Bruno was abducted, went on an extensive search to find her, eventually stumbling across Sachshire in their search. After finding Bruno and uncovering the plots of the corrupt mage Uldrabi and the misguided Duke Argyle, the group took the Oracle Bowl, containing the Endless Well, from Argyle. They successfully killed Uldrabi and his bounty hunter underlings, gaining insight into Bruno's history from the ancient dragon Palokran. They then were forced to do battle against the mighty dragon Giarleth, who wished to kill Bruno due to her distant draconic ancestry. After successfully defeating Giarleth, the Order took the Bowl to Osskanfiil in an attempt to destroy it forever. Osskanfiil The Tarnished Order, attempting to destroy the Oracle Bowl, was forced to navigate the treacherous streets and convoluted politics of the hobgoblin-controlled city Osskanfiil. They encountered several formidable enemies, including Lanuhsh and his Mind Flayer underlings, Fennic and the Three Fangs, and ultimately did battle with their greatest enemy yet, a mad Copper Ashgrove, wielding the power of the Endless Well that was hidden inside the bowl. The Order managed to kill Copper, though the Well was taken by an unknown orc after the conclusion of the battle and Copper's death. Over the course of the adventure, Rodwik Stormhammer left the group and Shay was killed by mind flayers, after which Grakul Dawntracker and Arrawyn Echo joined the Order. The Empty Realm In an attempt to recover Bruno's father, sealed between the planes of existence, the Tarnished Order ventured into the Astral Plane to try and find him. There they encountered a monstrous entity known as Brulaldasil, who commanded a floating city of Kuo-Toa. The Order was forced to fight through legions of Brulaldasil's minions in order to recover Bruno's father, who was being used as a battery to keep Brulaldasil's physical form in the Astral Plane. After defeating Brulaldasil's archpriest, the Order saved Bruno's father and escaped the floating city, forever banishing Brulaldasil back to the Far Realm. The Awakening The Tarnished Order was sent on several diplomatic missions for Osskanfiil, eventually ending up in Venura, a lavish city reputed to be the finest in the world. However, during discussions, the league of Chromatic Dragons known as the Starlight Talon attacked Venura, summoning their master Vermakk from the astral plane. The Talon attacked many major cities and forces around the world, destroying any resistance before proper retaliation could be mounted. The Talon essentially fell into a position of world rulership, all under Vermakk. The Order, realizing they had to destroy this new threat at all costs, sought out to recover the powerful Relics of Annihilation in order to activate a magical superweapon known as the Siege of Mount Celestia. Using these relics, the Order killed four out of five dragons in the Starlight Talon over the course of two months, then using the Siege to partially shatter the powerful artifact granting Vermakk the majority of his power. The Order then killed Vermakk, only to find that Blackfang had already been thrown into pandemonium, a chaotic place with no rulership to govern the various kingdoms and cities. Bloodfall With Blackfang in a position of weakness, the mighty demigod Arix returned from a faraway land known as Darkwood to claim the known world as his own. Arix gathered powerful forces, using his army to shred through the defenseless kingdoms of Blackfang, claiming every town, village, or kingdom as his own. The Order confronted Arix, who had previously tormented the early lives of Levi and Deslynn, as well as more recently killing the paladin Rodwik Stormhammer. The Order, drastically outnumbered by Arix's forces, fought the demigod on several occasions as he ravaged Blackfang. They successfully killed several of his lieutenants, throwing his forces into mass pandemonium. After four encounters, Arix fell into a trap they had planned out, allowing the Order to deal significant damage to him while he was trapped. They were then able to battle on equal terms, with Arix's forces unable to assist him. Leviathan was killed by the demigod, though later he was able to be pulled back from death and ascended to godhood with the rest of the Order. The Order finally destroyed the demigod's soul forever, reducing his near-impenetrable body to an empty shell. These events solidified the Tarnished Order as the greatest heroes of Blackfang's history. The Last Adventure During an auspicious alignment of the planets, a powerful warlock known as Hoaherth accidentally activated an ancient tablet which supposedly detailed the events of the apocalypse. The tablet's magic called forth the Staff of the Prophet, the most powerful artifact in all of Blackfang. In a race to claim the staff for their own, several extremely powerful entities wreaked havoc in the newly reformed Blackfang. Originally just attempting to stop these creatures, the Order eventually learned of the Staff's existence. This contest of powerful creatures eventually exploded into a full-blown war over the staff. Some wished to wield it for personal power, some wished to destroy it, others wished to use it in order to make a better world. However, in the end, the Staff was claimed by Deslynn, who attempted to destroy it forever. However, this instead activated the Pillars of Ixjil, artifacts infused with the divine energy of the Overdeity Ixjil. One of Ixjil's few remaining priests took the staff to the center of Venura, where the energy of the four Pillars connected in unison with the staff. This summoned forth a Prophet of Ixjil, an inscrutable being with the powers of a greater god. The Tarnsihed Order battled with the Prophet, attempting to stop the complete destruction of Blackfang, but found themselves entirely outmatched. Instead, they each sacrificed their lives to pierce the Prophet's heart with a powerful Halberd of Sealing. This temporarily sealed the Prophet in place, allowing Erevan Sienna to shatter the staff, destroying the Prophet and releasing all of Ixjil's hold on the material plane. While half of Blackfang was shattered into fragmented islands by the Prophet, the world was ultimately saved, and the power from the broken Staff trickled into the bodies of the Tarnished Order. This allowed them, allowing with former member Leviathan, to ascend to the position of Lesser God. Members Original * Levistus * Diamond * Bruno Dragonsbane * Rohr Thunderbeard * Jack * Shay * Gorn * Falco * Grath * Aversin Current * Astorio Calabra * Diamond * Bruno Dragonsbane * Rohr Thunderbeard * Grakul Dawntracker * Arrawyn Echo * Gorn * Drathgo Ethius * Grath * Aversin Former * Levistus * Jack * Rodwik Stormhammer * Shay * Falco